That website shows that since the end of May, it was still $1.61, just after this, Apple then released the MBPs, it was at $1.61 back in October 2008 too, went to $1.41 then went back up to $1.61 how it HAS been for the past 8months
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Mac prices increased with VAT increase snag
- Thread starter Artmuzz
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That website shows that since the end of May, it was still $1.61, just after this, Apple then released the MBPs, it was at $1.61 back in October 2008 too, went to $1.41 then went back up to $1.61 how it HAS been for the past 8months
I'm sure that some Mac users will, for the same reason known to bankers and other members of the business community, be jumping for joy when the next set of quarterly results are announced. Apple's enormous net profits are made from a combination of winning products (good for us) sold at high margins (not so good for us, good for shareholders). Where they can, just like oil companies and banks, they will try to at least maintain or at most increase the latter, and that's what we are seeing with the new price points. The VAT increase has been skillfully manipulated by Apple, like it or not. At least with iTunes we have a real choice, and I suggest that for consumers to show that they have some influential power, we should boycott iTunes, and buy our MP3's elsewhere. £0.99 for a single?!! If we don't, we only have ourselves to blame.
http://www.tunechecker.com/
http://www.tunechecker.com/
Apple is the most hardcore capitalist company I've ever known. It only wants money followed by more money. Although that is the empty heart of capitalism and the american dream; other mega companies that hold the very same maxim still manage to respond to the customers in a more benign way. For example if the Mac Pro was a TV, DV cam or Hi-Fi etc it would, with age and currency fluctuations, have been moving down in price. Especially now at the end of it's life cycle with the imminent release of the new model. A Plasma TV by LG, Samsung, whoever, that was introduced at £2000 would incrementally fall as the tech gets cheaper and older. Apples cost prices go down as the cards, CPU's etc get older but that is never passed on. Schiller said the Pro went down 300 dollars at it's launch where in England it went up 450 pounds for the base model and from 1799 to 2500 for the next up. At that time the £ was low against the $ but it's improved by over 20% since then. Which mean Apple has enjoyed an extra £500 on every Octo 2.26. £500 per unit! Why couldn't Apple take the VAT on the chin in the light of that? In a recession hit country with 3 million unemployed?
As for VAT ... Apple did screw the UK again. Proof? Spooky how every price still managed to be a 99 or a 49. No £1,413.24 prices only nice traditional £1,499 style prices. Apple stinks but what can you do? Once you're in and you start buying software at £200 or £500 a shot .. there's no going back. Windows 7 may cause some to jump ship .. I myself am thinking of it. I want a powerful Music DAW and can get a system made by an excellent company specialising in just that and it would cost me £1660 all nicely racked up. Silent too. Same system from Apple, same RAM, processor, video card, HD etc would cost just under £3000. This is a UK specialist computer music company and they beat Apples Chinese made computer with it's year old heating issues with shortened CPU life and 20/25% reduced power by a whopping £1300! Apple's an odd phenomenon. Before coming here I never new such fandom existed. The Apple fan boy was a terrible and alarming discovery. I know some men have jackets with car brands on them but I've never met a fan of a company in my life. "Oh God .. I love Philips .. oh their kitchen robots ... yeah and I hate Kenwood! Kenwood are so lame!" It's a sick world.
As for VAT ... Apple did screw the UK again. Proof? Spooky how every price still managed to be a 99 or a 49. No £1,413.24 prices only nice traditional £1,499 style prices. Apple stinks but what can you do? Once you're in and you start buying software at £200 or £500 a shot .. there's no going back. Windows 7 may cause some to jump ship .. I myself am thinking of it. I want a powerful Music DAW and can get a system made by an excellent company specialising in just that and it would cost me £1660 all nicely racked up. Silent too. Same system from Apple, same RAM, processor, video card, HD etc would cost just under £3000. This is a UK specialist computer music company and they beat Apples Chinese made computer with it's year old heating issues with shortened CPU life and 20/25% reduced power by a whopping £1300! Apple's an odd phenomenon. Before coming here I never new such fandom existed. The Apple fan boy was a terrible and alarming discovery. I know some men have jackets with car brands on them but I've never met a fan of a company in my life. "Oh God .. I love Philips .. oh their kitchen robots ... yeah and I hate Kenwood! Kenwood are so lame!" It's a sick world.
Yeah, I have already stated this on this post!
I have ordered the MacBook Pro 15" 2.8ghz model as they froze the VAT increase on products. However I am regreting it as I feel I might be a victim of the dodgy salesmen/women PC World employ
Art
For all you people complaining about the 2.5% VAT increase..
Most governments receive ALL this tax, Apple does not benefit with any extra income.
For you people complaining about the increase, try this:
An iPhone 3G costs $299 if your on a contract. Where I live, the same phone is $800 with a contract. So to my way of thinking, 2.5% VAT increase is NOTHING!!!!
Most governments receive ALL this tax, Apple does not benefit with any extra income.
For you people complaining about the increase, try this:
An iPhone 3G costs $299 if your on a contract. Where I live, the same phone is $800 with a contract. So to my way of thinking, 2.5% VAT increase is NOTHING!!!!
However, for EVERYONE whom may think they're affected by the 2.5% rise, I have a solution!
Some of you in the UK may or may not be aware of 'QuidCo.com'. QuidCo is a cashback site, where if you sign up, and use their link to order from Apples' website (or a number of other retailers) you pay the price Apple lists, however after about 1 month, your account is credited with 3% of however much you paid, and then QuidCo pays you.
So if any of you are affected by the 2.5% rise, get 3% off at the online apple store (No educational discounts allowed). Just visit THIS LINK to take back what Apple are unrightfully calling theirs.
Enjoy, especially your 0.5% profit
Hmm... I do believe I gave this advice earlier on, with what I believe to be a better cashback website...
So to reiterate, for all those in the UK, if you want to re-gain what is now 3.5% of your order total (ex-vat), purchase ONLINE through Top Cashback as opposed to giving in to poor retail stores who claim to extend the VAT increase date.
Yes, you can also do this via Quidco however they take £5 out of your earnings per year, restrict how often you can withdraw the cash and offer a lower percentage.
No, I fear I might not get my Mac as I found the order process a bit suspicious. The salesman told me that the manager lives near the PC World that has the MacBook Pro model I am wanting in stock and that he will drive there in his car to pick it up but he didn't even find out if they were still in stock in that store
Art
Yeah, Apple are a greedy capitalist company but I do like Mac OSX and their MacBook Pros are really georgeous products. I do find charging over £1,000 for them a bit steep considering they use most of the same chipsets that cheaper HP, Dell etc machines use.
This is the problem because the fact that I prefer OSX to Windows and the product designs are a work of art that I am willing to part with nearly 2 grand of my money I have worked hard for when I could of got the same spec notebook from HP or Dell about £700 cheaper.Art
Yeah, I have already stated this on this post!
I have ordered the MacBook Pro 15" 2.8ghz model as they froze the VAT increase on products. However I am regreting it as I feel I might be a victim of the dodgy salesmen/women PC World employ
Art
I used to work for DSGi (who own PC World). When an item (like your mac) isn't in stock, they phone a store that has it, and arrange a stock transfer. This involved booking DHL, which usually takes a few days to collect the item, then deliver it. It can be up to a week, especially at this time of year.
Sometimes, staff members who lived near the other store would go and collect the item personally, then drop it off at their own store. I can't say if they're meant to, but it saves the wait and hassle of going with DHL.
When you ordered your Mac, you should have been given an A4 Customer Order sheet. If you've got a hold that, then there's no problem, your Mac can't just disappear into the salesman's house. All stock transfers go through DSGi's central till/order/stock system, and there are also email records of them sent through DSGi's email system. A store won't transfer stock to another store without this paper trail.
Let us know when you get your Mac.
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On another note, as far as laptops go (especially what PC World offers), you'd be surprised at the utter crap that sells for the same price as a MacBook Pro. You won't really find much with the same spec (I include good build quality, awesome battery life, LED display and wireless N as 'spec') for the price. I've seen £900 laptops with wireless G, no optical drive and a 2 hour battery life. The one thing Apple do need to sort out is hard drive space. I expect more than 160GB for £900!